Community Classifieds

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Jack and Dorothy Ruger are on their way to Louisville, KY where Jack will have surgery again on his left wrist. From there they will be traveling to Indiana for Christmas and then on December 5th, Dorothy will have medical procedures done on her eye lids. They would appreciate prayers while in surgery and traveling.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Leisure World Birding

Some of you are wondering what you have to do when you go out with our Leisure World Birding group. There is no membership, no dues and no dogone reason not to come out with the group once a month. Equipment required to get started are a pair of eyes and ears. There is some gentle walking required and you can go at your own pace. Our resident experts are Jan Scheetz and Marland & Carolyn McCleary. You do not have to know anything about birds. Simply sign up and these folks will be more than glad to tutor you in the birds and wildlife surrounding us in south Texas. And there is plenty to see. There are more than 20 Wildlife preserves and parks in the valley. It is so popular that people come from around the world to visit this area primarily to ‘bird.’ There are 720 species of birds in North America and 510 of those have been spotted right here in the Rio Grande Valley. And the valley boasts some other unusual wildlife as well such as several species of Snakes, Javalina’s, Bobcats, Ocelots, Turtles and Alligators. This is your opportunity to become one with nature!This past Tuesday following our park meeting, I went out with both a video and my still camera to Estero Llano Grande park. This park is located only a couple of miles SE of Leisure World. With the exception of the Parakeet which I shot in my back yard, all of these wonderful birds were taken in a couple of hours.

Parakeet

Great Kisskadee

Couch's King Bird

Couch's King Bird Diving From Branch

Pintail Ducks

Tri Coloured Heron (or Zipper)

Great Egret Fishing

And the highlight of this outing for me was to spot a Bobcat. I hadn’t seen one for more that 55 years back in Alberta. Our northern version of this overgrown kitty are much larger than this one but it was a real treat to have this one pose for his photograph.

Here Kitty, Kitty

I'm Checking You Out!

You're No Fun!

Many of you have seen the photos and video I have taken with the birding group over the past few years. I really enjoy getting out there and taking pictures and video of our local fauna and flora. If you have a DVD player I can loan you copies of two videos I have taken with our park birding group.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

I follow a number of blogs each day. Some have comments I agree
with, some I don't; some challenge my thinking process, some are just
fun. One of the blogs I follow is “The Unrepentant Cowboy”, who
describes himself like this:
“Rancher,
farmer, horseman, writer. Ex-convict. Former marijuana smuggler.
Aspire to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Don't always succeed.
The Jesus I believe in was an outlaw. So hated, he received the death
penalty. I don't like organized religion, so don't try to save me.
Jesus and Mohammed both worshipped the same God; both would abhor
what's being done in their name today. “
He recently posted a comment labeled “Come and take it”. It makes a point with which I particularly agree. With
his permission I have reposted it to our blog.

MONDAY,
OCTOBER 7, 2013

Come
and take it

I
couldn’t help but notice the irony while attending this year’s
Come and take it celebration at Gonzales: people of pure
white background were a small minority in the crowds I saw. I’d
guess at least half of the attendees were Hispanic; a sizable number
were black or exhibiting various shades of cross breeding.

Come
and take itcelebrates
an event that began Texas’ fight for independence from Mexico; the
story goes that Mexico demanded that Tejanos in Gonzales surrender a
small cannon—they refused—Mexican soldiers were dispatched toretrievethe
cannon, and the first shots of the revolution were fired as the
soldiers arrived.As
commonly told, you’d think the battle pitted white Americans
against brown Mexicans, but that story proves inaccurate under
scrutiny. Many people of Hispanic origin, Norteños, also fought for
independence from the Mexican government alongside their white
neighbors. And settlers of African origin that arrived as slaves
were represented as well.

To
be sure, after the revolution, wars along racial lines did occur in
Texas; lands and properties were appropriated and both blacks
and hispanics were treated as second class citizens by people
of European origin.

Many
from blue Northern States harbor misconceptions about Texas and the
rest of the South in general due to our less than equitable history
along racial lines; the assumption is made that we’re all racists.
While there are those among us harboring such prejudices, they’re
losing the battle.I
am one of five children. I am married to a white
woman with a tiny but genetically provable portion of
African breeding. My first wife, the mother of my children, is
white. My brother Bill is married to a New Mexican Hispanic, half
Spaniard and half American Indian. Pat, the third
child, is married to a woman born a Mexican national
and has two children. Kyle was married to a white woman.

My
grandchildren present the full
spectrumof
modern Texas. Some are pure white. Latino blood from both Mexico and
Colombia appears, and now, Dusty, my second son has chosen a black
woman with black children from a previous marriage as his second
mate.

I’d
met Morgan, Dusty’s significant other, about a year ago, but this
weekend was the first time I’d met her children. During Come
and take it,
we went to a barbecue
restaurantin
Luling. While I waited in line behind a black man, Morgan took a
seat at a table with her daughters, reserving a place for us. I saw
the black man
check her
out. Dusty arrived, red headed and so white it hurts the eyes. The
black man did a double take. You could almost hear the thoughts
going through his head as he weighed the situation, struggling, I
think, with prejudices of his own. Morgan is a beautiful woman.

I
retrieved our food and we took our seats. As the line meandered by,
one
older black woman after
another spoke to us, in a way voicing approval, without actually
addressing the issue.

Later,
Dusty took Morgan to meet my parents: I haven’t heard how that
went, but I suspect it probably went well.

The
reconquista is over, the battle won without a single shot. The
results are not what any proud national would have expected.

This
is not the new Europe. Not Mexico. Barely even part of the United
States. We’re a multicultural community, with citizens of a number
of various ethnic backgrounds. South Texans. A hybrid, unique in
many ways: tacos, barbecue,
turnip greens, chicken fried steaks and mashed
potatoes all on the same plate. A young generation is laying down
prejudices of old, creating a new world as they do.

Somehow
this feels right to me, like we’ve crossed some invisible barrier.
The battles are not over, but times they are a changing and outcome
is clear: the bad guys lost.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

We received the sad news Friday morning that longtime Leisure World winter resident Marie Johnk passed away Thursday evening. Jack and Donna Fisher (Marie's sister) left early this morning to return to Iowa for the services. Jack advised by email this evening of the following scheduled services.
Open visitation on Monday, November 11.
Funeral services at 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 12, at the Christian Church in Oakland, Iowa.
Rieken-Vieth Funeral Home in Oakland is in charge of the services.
Condolences may be sent to the family at 203 High Street, Oakland, Iowa 51560.

Friday, November 8, 2013

The Leisure World Blog has featured a Community Classified section where residents are welcome to list items for sale, for rent, to give away....any normal classified ad type material. As we are now entering the 2013-2014 Season, it is time to review what is posted. Originally items were automatically removed after 2 months, this has not been enforced for some time. We find that the list is becoming lengthy and "bloated"...with nearly all ads for rental or sale of homes. We want to continue this service and request your cooperation in advising when your ad should be removed...in case of rental or sale for most items. I prefer to handle it this way rather than re-establishing a cut off time for removal of all items. Please let me hear from you at slaterdave@aol.com.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Although the cake says Happy Birthday Vera.... it was mean't to say Verna. The bakery made the mistake and when cutting, it was a surprise also as the cake was white not chocolate as ordered. But friends helped Verna Louze celebrate her birthday on November 1st in the card room.

It was a fun night gathering at the rec. hall for an abundance of delicious snacks and to watch those who were brave enough to come out dressed in their costumes. There was one "Winter Texan" who stood out in the crowd with the witches, ghosts, pumpkins and the ladies of the night with their "Old Man"....

Dave dressed as a true "Winter Texan" - He tried to disguise himself but he does have his name tag on... I think he is trying to get a message across to us winter Texans - WEAR YOUR NAME TAGS....

Our one and only Leisure World Sheriff - Lucy. "SHE'S WATCHING YOU"....

Rita - Holier than Thou (RIGHT...) AND Scott the busy worker bee...

Looks like Farmer Stan found himself a little sweetheart - Mary

Could someone please recommend a dentist for Stan?

Pumpkin Marj and the good witch gone bad - Barb is a sister to Phyllis and Trudy

Phyllis spent a whole day in MX. just to get her neck and arms all tattooed - how painful. Don't know what Dick is so smiley about...

Community Classified

PLEASE NOTE: A prospective resident should not complete the purchase of a home in Leisure World prior to obtaining approval for residency from Park Management.

FOR ADDITIONS, DELETIONS, CORRECTIONS or UPDATES in the Classifieds, contact Scotty Marriner at Lot 221. Also text, email or phone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SERVICES